I Stand Corrected

I hate being corrected.

Why does it have to hurt so much? And especially coming from my spouse?!

It doesn't have to be some big confrontation but even the little things can hurt a lot. If I'm honest too often the pain feels deep because my pride is deeper than I'd like to admit. I don't want to believe I still need ongoing correction. I want to believe that at my age I have somehow "arrived" and don't need the ongoing medicine of correction.

I wonder if we spend more time trying to avoid correction in our marriages than welcoming it? I would rather question my spouse's motives and deflect the pain rather than think there is something legitimate I need to hear and deal with. Yes, both of us are messed up and don't always speak the truth in love but if I really believed my husband or wife was an instrument of God's sanctifying love in my life I must look beyond that and welcome the correction in Jesus' name.

The bigger issue here is not my spouse but my God.

The ultimate purpose not only in our marriages but in all of life is that we would become more and more conformed to the image of Christ. That can't happen without correction. God's commitment is that He will do whatever it takes to bring about that refining love in His children. "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, or be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves..." Hebrews 12:5,6 We can question everyone else's motives but when it comes to our God there is only one motive He has when correcting His children - LOVE.

That might be hard to remember in this selfish world but if it is true that He is doing the same thing in my partner's life than I have the privilege of sharing in that together. Your primary role in your marriage is not to be the corrector or even the encourager but to be more and more like Jesus in their presence. You live for Him who died for you.

May you find joy even in the Lord's correction and may you even enjoy saying, "I Stand Corrected."